Oil Change, Tattoo and the Truth
by melissa.maier.902
Summary: A one-shot in the Up Close & Personal verse. Takes place during chptr 16 but can be read alone. Rating for Puck's language. NOTE: The tattoo should look like Noah's initials are vertical with Kurt's intials horizontal both sharing the E in the middle names, while Finn's initals are diagonal sharing the H in the last name with Kurt's. I CAN'T GET IT FORMAT CORRECTLY!


_**Out take from: Up Close and Personal, Chapter 16:**_

Sebastian snorted and whispered, "Since when is detention a deterrent for you?"

"Princess is helping me fix my truck. Tuesdays and Sundays are the only time we can work on it." Puck just shrugged it off.

"Hmm, you do know he's dating the hobbit… you know what? Never mind." Sebastian gathered his stuff as he noticed the time.

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Puck wondered what Sebastian had been about to say, but quickly put it out of his mind. He wanted to meet up with Kurt before his next class and make sure they were still on for today.

Noah made it to Kurt's locker just as the countertenor turned the corner.

"S'up, Princess. How's your day goin' so far?"

"Pretty good, Noah. How's your day been?"

"S'right, I guess. Hey, we're still on for today right? I think I need an oil change."

"How many miles has it been since the last one?"

"No idea. The light came on a while ago though."

"Noah! Are you kidding? Ah, that poor truck. It's criminal how you neglect the old girl."

Puck stared at him for a moment before cracking up. Kurt couldn't help laughing along. He loved when Noah laughed like that. That deep free laugh, it reminded him of many happy childhood memories.

"Shit, Kurt! That was a good one. Listen, I gotta go, but I'll be over right after school, okay?"

"Sure. I'll stop and pick up some oil and filters from the shop."

"Ya. Tell Papa H I'll settle up with him later."

"No worries, Noah. I'll meet you at home."

Kurt closed his locker and headed off to class. Noah watched him until he was completely out of sight. His last class of the day was math and the only class he actually liked.

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Puck pulled into the Hummel driveway. Kurt's Navigator was in the garage, which was open, and the boy was pulling out bags of parts from the back.

"Here, let me get those." Puck reached for the bags.

"Thanks, Nono," Kurt smiled.

Puck froze at the old-nickname. It had been so long since he'd heard it. Hearing it now and seeing Kurt's carefree smile just made Puck's heart hurt.

Kurt didn't notice his friend's hesitation at first, but when he turned back he saw a frozen Noah staring off into space. It looked like Noah had tears forming.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kurt put his hand on Noah's cheek.

"Huh? Oh, nothin'." Kurt didn't look like he believed him. "You just haven't called me that in years, kinda threw me, you know?"

"I'm sorry, would you rather I didn't call you that anymore?"

"No! No, I loved that nickname. Jus surprised s'all."

"Okay. I'm gonna change and we can get started. Do you want an old tee shirt to wear?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

The boys went into Kurt's basement room. Kurt dug around in the closet until he found what he was looking for. He tossed a shirt to Noah.

Noah looked at the shirt and smiled. "I haven't seen these in forever. Wow!"

"I know right? Blast from the past. I found these in a box when we were moving. Remember when dad had them made? They were huge on us! He never could figure out sizes."

Kurt removed his shirt and put on the tee. It said 'Noah's Best Friend.' He watched Puck change his as well. His read 'Kurt's Best Friend.'

"Remember how jealous Finn was when we got these? Dude threw a temper tantrum until we got new ones."

"I remember. It was funny because my dad got adult sizes and they were like dresses on us, but Finn's actually fit him. Amazing how a ten-year-old boy could wear an adult shirt!"

"He was always destined to be Frankenteen!"

The boys laughed at the nickname Finn hated so much.

"Do you still have the other one dad got us?" Kurt asked.

"Yup. Says 'Kurt and Finn's Best Friend' but the lettering on the friend is starting to come off." Noah's smile slipped as Kurt took off his jeans and put on the older, faded ones he always used when working on cars.

Puck's body tightened at the sight of those long pale legs before they became enclosed in the denim. He had to close his eyes and slow down his breathing. The last thing he needed was to freak Kurt out.

"Hey," Kurt's soft voice called, closer than Puck expected. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't have a fever or something, do you?"

Kurt placed his hand on Noah's forehead and it was all Puck could do not to lean into the touch.

"Na, just remembering all the good times."

"Good. Let's get started so we can finish and I'll make your favorite for dinner, okay?"

"Mac and Cheese? With the bread crumbs and everything?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course! Would I feed you anything less? You better call Aunt Nora and let her know not to expect you though."

"Yes! Very cool. I should text Finn and rub it in too!" Puck smirked.

"If you text Finn, he will come home. He's been begging for Mac and Cheese. Then there will be less for you."

"Hell no! Finnessa can just stay at Berry's."

Puck texted his mom as the boys headed back to the garage. They quickly set blocks on the back tires of the truck and engaged the emergency break. While Kurt was setting the floor jack to raise the front end, Puck started opening the bags.

"Kurt, what is all this stuff?"

"Well, I thought since you had no idea when your last oil change was, you probably needed a tune up too. I grabbed everything we would need."

"Dude, I'm gonna owe Papa H a shit-ton of money!"

"Noah Elijah Puckerman, do not call me dude! I expect better from you. Finn can't help that he can never remember."

"Sorry, Princess." Puck actually blushed. "No one's called me by my full name in forever."

"I love your middle name!" Kurt scoffed. "I plan on naming my future son Elijah."

"What?"

"Yup. I've had the names picked out since I was five." Kurt smiled like he was remembering something good.

"Really?" Puck swallowed the squeak his voice tried to make. "What'd ya pick?"

"Well if I have a boy it will Elijah Christopher Hummel and if it's a girl Constance Marie Hummel."

Puck couldn't fight the way his eyes misted. He drew in a shaky breath.

"You chose mine and Finn's middle names for the boy then Nana Connie's name and your mom's middle for the girl. That's pretty awesome, Kurt."

"Well, Marie is also Carole's middle name too so that was a definite. I did consider Delilah after Aunt Nora and Nana Connie, but then Sarah's middle name is Delilah so I thought I'd go with Constance."

Puck grabbed Kurt in a big hug, squeezing tightly. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Noah, are you okay? You're awfully mushy today." Kurt rubbed his back, gradually easing some of the tension.

They stood that way for awhile.

"We better get to work," Puck said as he pulled away.

Truthfully, he wanted to crawl back into Kurt's arms and never leave, but his body was betraying him and if he continued the hug Kurt would have felt Puckzilla.

They worked well together. Talking and joking around while they changed the oil and Kurt taught Noah how to tune up the engine and change the spark plugs.

"It's all simple maintenance, Noah. You really should know this stuff." Kurt laughed at the grease smear on Noah's face.

"What's so funny?"

"You've got some grease, come here, baby." Kurt used the towel in his hand to remove the smudge.

Noah knew he had a funny look on his face, and that he was standing a little too still. He really needed to be careful because Kurt could always recognize when something was wrong with him.

"Come on," Kurt said as he finished. "Let's go hit the showers, and then we can get dinner started."

"Sure, sure. I'll take the upstairs, you take the downstairs one." Puck shook his head to clear it.

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Kurt was removing his clothes when Noah barged back into the room.

"Hey Kurt…" Puck stopped short. Kurt was standing in only a tight pair of boxer briefs.

"What?" Kurt asked.

Noah just stared. "What-what is that?" He pointed at something on Kurt's hip.

"Huh? Oh! It's my tattoo. I got it about a month ago, but you can't tell dad!" he added quickly. "Or Finn for that matter, cause that's as good as tellin' dad."

"What is it? Some Chinese symbol?"

"No. It's our initials."

"What the hell?" Noah advanced closer. At first he was captivated by the mostly naked boy in front of him. Now he wanted to see this tattoo.

"It's our initials." Kurt pulled his underwear low on his right hip.

Inside some geometrical shape that Puck couldn't remember the name of was three sets of initials. It looked like:

F

N C

K E H

P

"That's really cool, Kurt, but why?"

"Well, when we were moving and I found the shirts, I started feelin' nostalgic. I remember how we always used to talk about getting tattoos when we were kids so I decided to go down and check it out. The guy told me I needed a parent's signature since I'm underage so I spoke to Carole. I told her what I wanted and I promised it would be small. She agreed to go with me and sign. It was really fun. We went to lunch afterward – had a bonding moment. Do you like it?"

"Ya, it's really cool. What did Blaine say?"

"I haven't told Blaine yet."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think he's gonna be pissed?"

"Possibly. I told him how we used to talk about it when we were kids, but he didn't seem too interested in hearing it. So when I decided to do it, I just did it. I don't need Blaine's permission, Noah. It's my body."

"I know that. How are you gonna hide it from him?"

"I don't intend to hide it from anyone, except my dad," Kurt huffed. "Besides it's not in a place Blaine's liable to see it anyway. The only reason you saw it is because I was about to take my underwear off before you barged in."

"Oh! Ya, sorry 'bout that. I don't know where the towels are in the new place so I was comin' to ask you."

"It's fine. The towels are in the upstairs closet at the end of the hall."

"Thanks. I'm gonna head up there. Meet you in the kitchen in twenty minutes?"

"Sounds about right. You can grate the cheese as long as you don't eat half of it!" Kurt laughed and pushed Puck toward the stairs. "Hurry up. I'll even help you with your homework while it's cooking."

"Badasses don't do homework, Princess." Puck smirked at him.

"This badass does and so will you. Now go!" Kurt pushed him again.

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About forty minutes later the boys had just put dinner in the oven and started on their homework.

"Hey, did it hurt?" Puck asked.

"Did what hurt?"

"The tattoo. It doesn't look like it hurt too much, but I was wonderin'."

"Ya, it hurt. The guy said it's because I wanted it on my hip and I didn't have a lot of 'meat on my bones', his words not mine."

Puck chuckled. "That's true. You're almost too skinny. Why didn't you get it on your back or something?"

"I'm trying to hide it from dad, Noah. I can't very well put it on my back."

"True. Forgot about that," Puck chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Papa H is gonna go ballistic when he finds out." Puck was working up to an all out laugh by now.

"Shut up, Noah! He's not gonna find out until I'm at least eighteen. Because I'm not gonna tell and you better not, either."

The boys worked their way through all of their homework. Puck helped Kurt with his math and Kurt helped Puck with history and English. They finished just before the oven timer went off.

Puck cleared and set the table while Kurt steamed some vegetables to go with their dinner. Kurt brought in the food shortly after Puck finished.

"What do you want to drink, Princess?"

"There's ice tea in the refrigerator. I showed Carole how to make it like Nana Connie."

"Awesome!" Puck grabbed a couple of glasses and the pitcher of tea.

The duo sat and started dishing up the food. Puck's stomach growled as the smell hit him.

"God, Kurt! This is my absolute favorite food in the world. No one makes it anywhere near as good as you do."

Kurt blushed. "Thank you. I do try. Total package and all," he laughed.

"Huh?"

"I cook, I clean, I dress fabulous, and I sing like an angel. Total Package." Kurt laughed at his drawn out speech.

"Humble much?" However Puck was laughing along as well.

"It's Hummel, not humble." Kurt giggled.

"Dear Lord, you're as cheesy as this Mac and Cheese!"

"You're one to talk! Mr. Puckzilla, resident sex-shark, resident badass."

"Ya, you got me. Guess that makes me the Mac to your Cheese." Puck snorted.

"You've always been the Mac to my Cheese, Noah. Just like Finn's always been the bread crumbs on top!"

Both boys were reduced to laughing fits at the awful pun. When they finally regained their composure they resumed their dinner.

Noah's big chocolate brown eyes misted as he looked at Kurt. "I've missed this," he said softly.

"Me too, Noah. Me too. I'm glad we are back together. It was so lonely without you guys."

"I'm sorry. It was all my fault."

"No, it wasn't. Finn has a mind of his own, he may not use it all the time, but it's still there. His choices were his own."

"Doesn't excuse how I treated you, Kurt. You were my best friend since I was five fuckin' years old!"

"Noah, stop. Please. We've been through this over and over. You were a young boy and you're allowed to make mistakes."

"A fuck-ton of mistakes apparently. How do you not hate me?" Puck was staring at his lap, unable to look up at Kurt.

"Noah, hey," Kurt got up from his chair and knelt in front of the boy. He gently tipped Noah's face up so he could look him in the eye. "Noah, I could never hate you. I love you. I've always loved you and I always will. We've had too many good times to let a few bad times come between us."

"A few bad times? Kurt, fuck! It wasn't a few bad times; it was a few bad years! Three long God-damn years. I was such a fuckin' idiot." Puck didn't even care anymore – the tears were falling faster than he could have stopped them anyway.

He slid off his chair, landing on his knees in front of Kurt. Great big sobs pulling from inside his chest. Kurt wrapped his arms around him and rocked him. He let Puck cry it out. His own tears making tracks down his pale face.

By the time Puck calmed down somewhat, the two boys were lying on the dining room floor, with Noah's face buried in Kurt's neck.

"It's okay, Noah. I promise it's okay now. Shhh." Kurt kept up a steady stream of soothing words while rubbing Noah's back.

"I love you, Kurt." Puck's voice was gravely from crying so hard.

"I know you do, sweetie. I love you too."

"No, Kurt. You don't get it. I love you," Noah whispered.

Kurt's whole body went still. "Noah, look at me."

Puck raised his head.

"I know you think you love me like that, but you don't. You're not that boy and you know it."

"Actually you are so wrong." Puck sat up and helped Kurt to sit up as well. "I didn't want to have this conversation with you because you're with Blaine and I just got you back, but…" he trailed off.

Taking a deep breath, he reached over and laced his fingers with Kurt's.

"I am that boy. I think I've always been that boy when it comes to you. I think we were about six, I told my mom I was gonna marry you when I grew up because, except for her and Aunt Elizabeth, there was never gonna be anyone prettier, smarter, or more perfect than you. My mom laughed and hugged me. She said I was absolutely right. I heard her call your mom a little bit later and tell her what I said. I don't know what your mom said, but they were laughing and going on about family get togethers. Then Finn came into the picture and all of us got along so well. I asked Nana Connie once if it was possible to love more than one person at a time. I told her I loved you and Finn both. She asked me if I loved one of you more than the other and I told her I loved you more. When she asked me why I told her you were my friend first and longer, plus you were prettier."

Kurt couldn't help but giggle. He could totally imagine a six year old Noah going on and on to Nana Connie.

"When we got into fifth and sixth grade things started to change. You knew who you were. You were comfortable with yourself. People started to talk shit and I became a coward. I was so afraid of what other people were gonna say. They didn't like me much as it was because my dad bailed on us and we were poor. I couldn't take giving them all one more reason to ridicule me. I started to pull away from you and Finn. Then I started to hate myself even more. You were my safe place, the one person who never hurt me, the one person who never let me down and I couldn't even man up enough to return the favor. Even Finn and I fought over it. He couldn't understand what I was going through."

Noah laid his head on Kurt's shoulder and breathed in his scent. He wasn't lying when he said Kurt was his safe place. Puck still had an old blanket stuffed into his pillow case that still, after all these years, managed to smell like Kurt.

"The summer after sixth grade I got the shit kicked outta me by some older kids. They told me I hung around the gay and mentally challenged because I was a Jew-freak who no one wanted since my daddy didn't even stick around. It was the second worse day of my life. The worst day came two days later when I came over and told you that we were no longer friends. I remember the look on your face like it was yesterday. It still haunts my nightmares. I'm not sure how they got to Finn, but I spent the rest of the summer down at the rec-center learning how to fight. I shaved my head, got the Mohawk, two days before seventh grade. First day of school, I went up to the biggest eight grader I could find and kicked his ass. I figured if I hurt them first they couldn't hurt me."

Kurt was crying silently for the boy in his arms. However, Kurt never loosened his hold on Noah, never stopped rocking him or rubbing his back.

"The fights came easy after that. Soon I had a reputation going, it was keeping me safe, but it was keeping me from you. Eighth grade was more of the same shit, only worse. Girls came next. Santana approached me that year about hooking up. I didn't want to but I was afraid someone would find out I didn't want to and then everything would've been for nothing. We were at my place, ma wasn't home, but I couldn't do it. She didn't want to either, really. So we came up with a plan. We decided to tell everyone we were doing it and build the other up real good. It worked for awhile. It kept us both safe. I don't even want to think about freshman year. I lost myself, Kurt. I forgot who I was. I forgot what Nana taught me."

"Noah, I didn't forget who you are. I never did. I always knew my Nono was in there somewhere. I also knew you'd find your way back," Kurt said soothingly.

"At what cost though? I've lost you and I've fucked things up with Finn so many times I can't even count them all."

"I can't speak for Finn. That's a conversation for the two of you. For me, though, you never lost me. I'm still right here just like I've always been. Yes, those were three very long and fucked up years, but they're over now. I've forgiven David and let's face it – he did way worse shit to me. You have to forgive yourself Noah. You have to learn from this and move on."

Puck snorted at that comment. "Move on? I can't move on, Kurt. If I hadn't done all those things I would be your boyfriend right now! I would get to kiss you and hold you and take you out. I screwed that up. Now I get to watch that freakin' hobbit do all those things and it pisses me off."

It appeared to Puck that Kurt was lost in thought, searching for what to say. He knew this conversation was coming. Everyone thought Kurt was oblivious to how Puck was feeling and acting, but Puck was pretty sure that wasn't true. Kurt had a way of knowing everything, especially how he felt.

"Noah, I love you and I have been in love with you since I was five years old. I have your freakin' initials tattooed on my body for crying out loud! However, you're right; I am with Blaine and I love him too. Not like I love you, but I do love him."

"So I missed my chance. I blew it and ruined everything. I lost you."

"Noah, you didn't lose me. I will always be here for you as your best friend no matter what. Besides, I can't say what the future will hold for us. Maybe one day when you've taken care of yourself and accomplished your goals, maybe then if you still want me in that way, maybe we can be together."

"What do you mean?"

"What I'm saying is, get yourself together first: forgive yourself, work out your issues with Finn, and take care of yourself and your education. If after all that, when _both_ of us are standing on our own two feet proud of all our individual accomplishments and how far we've come, then if you still want me – well let's just see where we both stand then. In the meantime just know that I'll always be here for you, as your best friend forever."

Noah stared at Kurt for a long time.

"I want to kiss you, Princess, so fuckin' bad," Puck whispered as he cupped Kurt's cheek.

"I'm not a cheater, Noah. Please don't make me one - because if you kiss me I won't even try to stop you. I want it too much."

"I'm through hurting you, Kurt. Never again! And I'm gonna do all those things, I'm gonna make you proud and then I'm gonna make you mine." Puck got to his feet and pulled Kurt up as well.

"It's not about making me proud, Noah. It's about making yourself proud. I'm already proud of the changes you've made and the crap you've endured has made you a stronger man."

Puck leaned in and kissed Kurt's cheek. "Is that okay?" He was worried.

Kurt smiled. "That's fine. Come on let's rinse off our faces before anyone comes home and finish dinner."

They were just sitting back down when Finn walked in the door.

"Holy shit, dude! You made Mac and Cheese! Yes – good thing I made it home in time before Puck ate it all." Oblivious as ever, Finn grabbed a plate and sat down with the boys.

Noah and Kurt shook their heads and laughed. Just like old times.


End file.
